September 25, 2015

Top to bottom; Left to rightSam Edelman Booties : One of my favorite casual booties, they're super comfortable and go with everything!Vince Camuto Booties : These look exactly like a dupe of the Rag & Bone booties, at a much more afforadable price point.Tory Burch Boots: I love this classic boot, everyone needs a brown boot in their wardrobe!Stuart Weitzman Boots: I just purchased these OTK boots and can't wait to wear them for fall.Stuart Weitzman Wedges : I love that that there's a wedge and how fitted these boots, perfect for gals with slimmer calvesPrada Boots: I purchased these a few years back, and have worn them every fall and winter. They're super comfortable and still look brand new!Rag & Bone Booties: I bought these last fall in black and absolutely love them. They came out with multiple colors this year and I'm tempted to pick them up in tan. They run slightly small, so I'd recommend going up half a size.

September 24, 2015

It’s been about a month since the little one was born. Nathaniel Rai was born on August 18th 2015 right on his due date at 11:03PM , weighing in at 7lbs 5ozs and 20 inches. It’s been a crazy month, so I’m just getting around to writing this now. It definitely took me a few weeks to get the hang of things.

On August 16th, 2 days before my actual due date, I started getting some pretty painful cramps. They didn’t start getting closer together or any stronger so I kind of just ignored them. It also happened to be my wedding anniversary, so I went out to dinner keeping my fingers crossed that I’d hopefully not going into labor while at dinner. Luckily I made it through dinner, later at night I started getting more intense contractions that were about 10 minutes apart. They stayed that way until the next day. The next day I went on a long walk and bounced on a stability ball, trying to speed up labor a little.

Later that night, my contractions started getting stronger and closer together. By 3am I was pretty certain that I would need to go to the hospital soon. I started getting ready and by 6am was on the road headed to the hospital. I was definitely in quite a bit of pain. The hour drive felt like an eternity. I was basically rolled up in a ball because the contractions were soo strong. I called my doctor while on the road and was admitted in Labor and Delivery as soon as I arrived at the hospital.

Once we arrived the first thing they asked if I had planned to take an epidural. I had originally planned to pass on the epidural because I heard it can slow down labor significantly. By 9am I was in so much pain, I couldn’t stop throwing up (I know TMI) I guess my body just wanted to clear everything out of my system, and I literally felt like I was going to pass out from the pain. My water broke around this time as well. My pain level had become unbearable and I ended up asking for an epidural. I felt like I couldn’t speak and my vision was blurry from the pain. Once the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural and it started to work, I felt sooo much better. The nurse came into check how dilated and I was, and I was only bout 4 cm dilated, so all we could do was wait. I ended up taking a nap for a couple of hours

By 3 PM, the nurse came in to check me again and I was at 9cm dilated, with one more centimeter to go. I still wasn’t fully effaced and my gynecologist had come in to check on me and said she’d come back in a few hours to check on me again. They had me shift positions several times because the baby’s head was positioned incorrectly and they wanted to try to reposition it. A few times the baby’s heart rate started to drop, but they were able to get it back up by repositioning me.

By 7PM, they turned off my epidural and started giving me small doses of Pitocin, which is used to speed up labor. My doctor instructed had my husband grab one of my legs, while the nurse had the other one. I still could barely feel anything even though the epidural had been turned off. I pushed for about 2 and a half hours. It felt like the most exhausting couple of hours. As time wore on, I started feeling my contractions more, and the pain was definitely starting to set in. He didn’t start crowning till 2 hours in, but I found it really difficult to push since I didn’t have much control of my lower half. Right before he came out the room filled with about 10 nurses, while their eyes were glued to the monitor. I was so nervous and had no idea what was going on. Apparently the baby’s heart rate was dropping. It took a lot of pushes until he was finally out. Normally they had the baby over to you right away to do skin to skin, but they took the baby to the nursery station because he wasn’t breathing properly. I had never been so nervous and concerned for my baby’s well being. But after what felt like the longest couple of minutes the baby started crying and they handed the baby over to me to do skin to skin.

We spent the next hour doing skin to skin and then they moved me to a postpartum recovering room. It was about 1am by this time. I honestly had never really held a newborn before, but it all came so naturally. I didn’t end up sleeping that night and just cuddled with the baby. He latched right away but only one once side and he sucked super hard that it was rather painful. The next day a lactation consultant came in and gave me some tips which were really helpful and definitely helped with breastfeeding. This was definitely a rough pregnancy, from the intense morning sickness and back pain, it was probably one of the most uncomfortable 10 months I have ever experienced, but was soo rewarding. Nathaniel is just the cutest baby; of course I’m biased! But it’s so crazy to have this little human that is completely dependent on you. I just can’t stop starring at him.

The hospital had labor and delivery as a "lockdown floor" so they put a tracking device on the baby, and if you get it wet, or walk too close to the exits it'll set off an alarm.

My very swollen baby, he was stuck in my pelvic bone for so long that his head ended up being really swollen. They almost had to vacuum him out.

The swelling went down slightly, but you can see his head was still pretty swollen a few days later.

Nathaniel's bilirubin was slightly high, so we had to take him to the pediatrician a few days after we were discharged from the hospital, so they could retest him. Thankfully after they retested him his bilirubin went down to low intermediate risk.

September 18, 2015

I can't believe summer is already over. Although it's been so warm in Vegas it doesn't feel like fall, but I'm definitely ready to take out my fall wardrobe. Forever 21 has really stepped up their game for fall. I'm loving their faux fur, it looks lux and is super warm. I'm also loving the plaid shirts, they remind me of the ones from Rails. I can't wait to wear the shirt dresses with boots. Midi dresses are pefect for fall, I ordered the one in the 2nd row in burgundy! It comes in black and tan as well. I also ordered the poncho and high waisted pants, two looks that I love, now if only the weather would cool down so I can wear these looks!

September 11, 2015

Here's a throwback to one of my favorite maternity looks. I believe this was actually a dress that I wore as a cover-up. My swimsuit top is from Have Faith, once of my favorite swimwear lines, they happen to be liquidating all their inventory right now and everything is only $20!

September 9, 2015

Since I know that I'm predisposed to stretch marks. I have some from puberty, I was extra careful throughout my pregnancy to do whatever I could to avoid getting new ones. Below are a few of my favorite products that I used to prevent them.

Mama Mio - This is amazing, I haven't gotten any stretch marks on my breasts so far (knock on wood) I heard it's also amazing on your decollate to prevent wrinkles and keep your skin tight!Bliss Body Butter (Vanilla) - Smells amazing and great for right out of the shower. It's super creamy and thick but absorbs great.Bliss Body Butter (Grapefruit) - Smells great as well! I like mixing it with the Vanilla one.L'Occitane - One of my favorites before pregnancy as well and have been using it for years!KP Duty Scrub - Love this scrub, it doesn't smell like anything, but it exfoliates really well and leaves your body super smooth.Virgin coconut Oil - I slather this everywhere! I also use it in the shower in place of conditioner. Fresh Body Polish - Smells amazing! It's a little bit grainer but leaves you super smooth as well

September 7, 2015

I did my maternity photoshoot at 36 weeks. Honestly I wish I had booked it earlier because I felt huge! However I had booked it at around 20 weeks and I wasn't showing much then, and wanted to make sure I had a bump for my shoot. I ended up using Lori Dorman Photography. They were great and had a huge closet of items to pick from. I brought my own lingerie and heels and also all of my husband's clothes.

September 4, 2015

I absolutely LOVE maxi dresses! so of course I wore them throughout my pregnancy, not to mention they're great for nursing as well. I actually purchased this dress pre-pregnancy but it is a stretchy material, so I was able to wear it up until I was 8 months pregnant. Below are some of my favorite maxi's right now. All under $50!